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Chrome OS: Ready for Web Development [video]

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Re: Chrome OS: Ready for Web Development [video]

#41

Post by jjuel »

rb808 wrote: post #5

I'm thinking of getting a Chromebook for dev work, with the view of just using it as a dumb client for terminals and browser to cloud servers. I'm worried I'll buy then wish I bought a proper machine. Anyone thought the same then regretted it?

I will be honest. I bought my Pixelbook mostly due to the aesthetics and features(most of which I no longer use e.g. tablet mode and pen support). I loved it for a long time. My laptop was mostly a browsing machine anyway so ChromeOS was perfect. I did use it as a dumb terminal to remote into my main dev machine. Then Crostini came around and I do enjoy being able to just develop on my Pixelbook. However, for some reason I keep wishing I had bought a Macbook instead. While I do have a soft spot for Macbooks (had two previously) there are just certain things that are limited in Crostini, and it is far from a finished product yet. If I were making my choice today I would definitely get a Macbook even with crostini on Chromebooks.

Re: Chrome OS: Ready for Web Development [video]

#42

Post by mav3rick »

overcast wrote: post #27
rb808 wrote: post #5

I'm thinking of getting a Chromebook for dev work, with the view of just using it as a dumb client for terminals and browser to cloud servers. I'm worried I'll buy then wish I bought a proper machine. Anyone thought the same then regretted it?

My suggestion right now(from a Mac user), is a Windows 10 machine with the Linux subsystem installed. You'll have an entire Linux environment integrated into Windows, giving you the best of both worlds. Supported software, hardware, and your natural development environment. Honestly, I'm weary of moving anything to Google with their track record of just abandoning projects, and privacy concerns.

With all due respect WSL will always be behind Google's implementation. WSL implements a subset of linux syscalls to get compatibility. Crostini's guest OS is a Debian image so there are less compatibility challenges than WSL.

Re: Chrome OS: Ready for Web Development [video]

#44

Post by Nicksil »

nxc18 wrote: post #9
youeseh wrote: post #3

Who is this really for? Students who have a cheap Chromebook and couldn't write / test code due to OS restrictions? Developers who have a Chromebook (and love it) and wanted to use it for everything?

I got a chromebook because I needed a device with a keyboard I could use from my couch/patio. I've been extremely impressed - I can use Android apps, and they work well, due to tablet mode support. Being able to have a Linux laptop that just works is really awesome. I think you could make the argument that ChromeBook is just as versatile as Windows now - huge app store (Play), great browser, and a Linux terminal. So…

>I got a chromebook because I needed a device with a keyboard I could use from my couch/patio.

That's a laptop, right? Were you in search of a form factor other than laptop? What about the Chrome Book's form factor was more appealing to you than that of the "standard" laptop?

>Being able to have a Linux laptop that just works is really awesome.

What Linux distribution were you using that didn't work to your liking? What were the pitfalls and what did Chrome Book do different to mitigate the issues you were having with other versions of Linux?

Re: Chrome OS: Ready for Web Development [video]

#45

Post by bhhaskin »

zaxcellent wrote: post #12
azangru wrote: post #2

Interesting. Any advantage of using Chrome OS for Web development compared to just any plain Linux distro (e.g. Ubuntu)? Or, even more interesting, compared to MacOS? Because from the video, it feels as if Crostini is a second-class citizen on Chrome OS (all that talk about Linux in a container). Why choose Chrome OS at all?

(I'm crostini developer) Chrome OS has some natural advantages as an OS e.g. it's always updated and secure, device drivers just work. Chrome OS is also the only desktop OS with Android support maintained by Google. Because Crostini uses Linux containers, more Linux programs can be used in development than MacOS, and any linux distribution that runs under LXD can be used. Chromebooks can also be found in certain plac…

That's all well and good, but doesn't answer the question. Why would I use Chrome OS rather than another Linux distro for web development?

My Ubuntu instillation is also always updated and secure. Device drivers also just work. The android support sounds great for android development, not web development.

Re: Chrome OS: Ready for Web Development [video]

#46

Post by idm »

zwaps wrote: post #18

So it does everything that Linux does, but you can also send all your personal data automatically to google. Wow, what a value proposition!

I made a separate account for the Chromebook. I don't associate any personal info with this account. Of course, most people will reuse their existing accounts, but it's not strictly required to provide personal details in order to use a Chromebook.

Re: Chrome OS: Ready for Web Development [video]

#47

Post by ChristianBundy »

rb808 wrote: post #5

I'm thinking of getting a Chromebook for dev work, with the view of just using it as a dumb client for terminals and browser to cloud servers. I'm worried I'll buy then wish I bought a proper machine. Anyone thought the same then regretted it?

I don't mind my Chromebook, but I don't think I'll ever go back to Chrome OS.

I purchased my Chromebook Pixel (2015, codename Samus) with the same idea, and it was great for the first few months: I slowly started using Google products for everything, so my development work usually meant using the SSH extension[0] and connecting to a Google Cloud machine I rented. It appealed to my "digital nomad" tendencies, and really made me feel like I could work from anywhere.

Unfortunately, the "digital nomad" tendency is often expensive and unsustainable, and I found myself spending $50/mo for a VPS with sufficient resources and storage that I didn't even own. I was excited that Chrome OS and Android are open source, but when I looked into making changes I quickly realized that the core was open source while most of the actual applications were proprietary (from the clock to the calculator to the SMS app, everything).

I started down the road to Chrome OS because I thought it would be a liberating exercise in minimalism, but it turns out that I was overpaying to rent a server so that I could use an often-proprietary OS from a gigantic corporation funded by adtech. Bad.

It took some time, but I eventually figured out how to install another OS on my machine (Arch Linux) and I've seen a boost to both my productivity and my computer knowledge. A VPS is a great place to learn the basics of Linux, but I've learned a ton just managing my own device and understanding how all of the various pieces work together.

Plus, now I can run applications on my computer (!) without the requirement that they're Android apps (!!) or Chrome extensions (!!!). Sure, the UX isn't quite as polished as Chrome OS, but who cares?

Chrome OS aside, the Chromebook is fine. Sure, it was a massive pain in the ass to realize that Google doesn't run mainline Linux, so it took about a year or two to get Google's patches merged into mainline so I didn't have to use a fork[1], but for the most part the device itself is fine. I've had some weird impossible-to-debug issues (e.g. half of the screen going dim) and a handful of annoyances (e.g. you can never remove Google's "WARNING: THIS IS NOT CHROME OS" warning on boot), but I can live with them.

In the future I'll never buy another Chromebook, and I'll likely never buy another Google product, but at the time it was what I wanted and I learned a lot from my experience.

Good luck!

[0]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell-exten... [1]: https://github.com/raphael/linux-samus

Re: Chrome OS: Ready for Web Development [video]

#49

Post by overcast »

mav3rick wrote: post #42
overcast wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My suggestion right now(from a Mac user), is a Windows 10 machine with the Linux subsystem installed. You'll have an entire Linux environment integrated into Windows, giving you the best of both worlds. Supported software, hardware, and your natural development environment. Honestly, I'm weary of moving anything to Google with their track record of just abandoning projects, and privacy concerns.

With all due respect WSL will always be behind Google's implementation. WSL implements a subset of linux syscalls to get compatibility. Crostini's guest OS is a Debian image so there are less compatibility challenges than WSL.

I haven't run into any compatibility problems, and was able to get my environment running identical to the production server. So how does what you said affect my experience? It works without jumping further into Google's uncertain ecosystem. And when I'm not working, I can fire up my Steam library, all on the same machine.

Re: Chrome OS: Ready for Web Development [video]

#50

Post by ChristianBundy »

bhhaskin wrote: post #45
zaxcellent wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(I'm crostini developer) Chrome OS has some natural advantages as an OS e.g. it's always updated and secure, device drivers just work. Chrome OS is also the only desktop OS with Android support maintained by Google. Because Crostini uses Linux containers, more Linux programs can be used in development than MacOS, and any linux distribution that runs under LXD can be used. Chromebooks can also be found in certain plac…

That's all well and good, but doesn't answer the question. Why would I use Chrome OS rather than another Linux distro for web development? My Ubuntu instillation is also always updated and secure. Device drivers also just work. The android support sounds great for android development, not web development.

> Why would I use Chrome OS rather than another Linux distro for web development?

You shouldn't. It's in Google's best interest to get people to use their products. It's in your best interest to avoid Google whenever you can.

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